Typically, plastic parts are painted after they are molded. The painting process requires elaborate facilities and consequently necessitates large expenses. For instance, significant square footage of a factory must be dedicated to a clean room environment for the spraying of paint and clear coat and for the baking and curing of paint on components, such as those components used in the automotive industry, such as body panels, air bag covers, instrument panels and the like. Such parts may also include decorative badges and other emblems and ornamentation adapted to be mounted or applied to the components.
For example, conventional air bag covers used in conjunction with occupant restraint systems may sometimes include decorative badges or ornaments attached thereto which are either formed integrally with or separate from the air bag cover. Such badges may take the form of a logo or mark representing a vehicle make, model, manufacturer, or the like. These decorative badges are aesthetically pleasing and help to enhance the overall appearance of the interior of the automotive vehicle. Since many air bag covers move away from the steering column during inflation of the air bag, the associated decorative badge should be securely attached to the cover so that it does not come off during operation of the air bag.
Moreover, solvent-based paints have in recent years raised significant environmental concerns because of the volatile organic components which are emitted into the air during the application of such solvent-based paints. As a result, the evaporation of such solvents must be strictly monitored to satisfy environmental and safety regulations.
In addition, automotive components, especially interior automotive components and their badges and ornamentation, are strictly scrutinized following the painting process in order to match or conform the automotive component to the styling and aesthetic requirements of the associated interior trim product. Painting such automotive components following the molding process, raises quality concerns with respect to the color, consistency, and thickness of each individual paint application.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,902,557, the Rohrbacher reference discloses a method and apparatus for manufacturing a thermoplastic polyolefin composite useful as an exterior auto or truck body part.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,769,100, the Short reference, teaches a method of applying a carrier film pre-printed with metallic paint to an automobile body panel in a vacuum forming process.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,952,351 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,466,412, the Parker patents, teach a method of manufacturing an air bag cover for an inflatable air bag system including a bondable film carrier, which is painted after the film carrier is molded.
However, the prior art fails to provide a method of manufacturing a painted component, including a badge, ornament or other emblem, individually or attached to the painted component, wherein the step of painting the component and badge after molding is eliminated and further where the resulting component has the structural integrity both in terms of durability and strength to support varying applications.